Jayline's load protectors fit to the rear face of a forklift's forks and absorb the impact of an incoming load.

A UK brewer has eliminated a costly stock damage problem by fitting load cushions to the gas-powered counterbalance forklifts that it operates in its production and warehouse facilities.

The problem revolved around the damage caused to palletised loads of aluminium cans of drink as they were taken by the forklifts from the production site to the adjacent warehouse. The impact of the load against the fork carriage as the truck's forks entered the pallet was sufficient to ruin at least one can in every load.

Advised by its can supplier, the brewer tried fitting a specially designed roller device to the mast carriage of its forklifts, but this did not solve the problem.

The brewer's Google search for a solution led it to Jayline Products' load protector range.

Made in the UK from heavy duty moulded rubber, the patented load protectors fit to the rear face of a forklift's forks and absorb the impact of an incoming load. They provide a cushioned barrier between the load and the back of the forks. As the pallet is picked up, the protector prevents the load from hitting the truck's forks or the fork carriage with sufficient force to cause load damage.

Jayline Products' Peter Kimberley says the brewer has saved at least GBP80,000 (USD124,454) a year in reduced stock losses after fitting its forklift fleet with the company's load protectors.

Cotswolds-based Jayline Products is a privately owned company that specialises in products that cut the cost of running and maintaining a forklift fleet. Its range of forklift fork protectors was shortlisted for the Fork Lift Truck Association's annual award for innovation in 2006.